Labadi Beach

I can already see that I’m going to fall behind on posts...it is inevitable, (Mr.Anderson), but in an effort to put that off as long as possible, I wanted to make a quick post about my weekend. And. The BEACH!

Apparently Labadi Beach is the place to be on a Sunday afternoon, after five hours of church of course. So, when in Rome; I went to the beach this past Sunday! (But not church). I was meeting some friends of mine there, but I arrived early, so I was on my own for the first hour while I waited. This, of course, led to a couple funny situations.

First, I was swarmed by a group of girls from Nigeria, who all insisted on taking individual pictures with me. Why, you ask? That was my first question, but I still haven’t the faintest idea. (Nick/Jake-Am I finally getting recognized from my VinoDivino Ads?!). I was not, by any means, the only Obrueni on the beach. But, “Because we want to,” is the only answer I received. Anyway, after taking about a dozen pictures, they dragged me halfway across the beach to try and find seats, but the beach was packed! After a little while of searching, I excused myself to go wait for my friends up by the entrance. I was worried we would have trouble spotting each other.

On my way back, I was swarmed this time by a group of horseman. No, that’s not a typo. There were about six or seven young guys on horseback, riding up and down the beach, giving rides to people who paid 5 Ghanaian Cedi. The horses are pretty small, and the beach was very crowded, so I must have missed them in the beginning. Anyway, horses vs. having my picture taken? Anyone who’s met me knows there’s no contest…the horses were a much more welcomed distraction while I waited for my friends.

While they were mostly interested in trying to get me to ride, I did find out that the horses are imported from Sudan, and kept at a barn not too far from the beach. The horses are also drugged pretty heavily, to make sure that they are “safe” for tourists. (The animal lover in me cringed, but what can you do?) The riders got bored of my questions eventually, especially when they realized I wasn't interested in riding, and decided to race each other up and down the beach, in and around people walking to and from the water. Barrel-racing with people, I guess.

Still waiting for my friends, I started to feel a little awkward, as everyone in the vicinity was staring at me, standing on my own. So I ended up walking over to the girl selling water, and sat with her for a while. This might seem a little odd-- but from my experiences in Africa, strangers are viewed as friends you just haven’t met yet, and the girl selling water, whose name was Yauada (sp?), seemed happy to have some company. People kept asking her if she was only selling water, or selling “the Obrueni,” too. She finally answered that if you buy enough water, you get the Obrueni for free! I had a lot of fun talking to her.

But my friends finally showed up! Both of them are friends of mine from my semester in Niger. One is living in Accra now, the other was just visiting. We had a lovely afternoon walking up and down the beach.

Other lessons I've learned thus far:

- Jellyfish are way bigger in Africa.

-There is an exponential relationship between the time it takes you to wash your dishes, and the number of ants found on said dishes when you finally wash them.

-Contrary to popular belief, roosters do not crow at dawn, but rather, whenever they damn well please. (Or at least the bastard rooster by my apartment does.)

- Just like in Niger, the meaning of the word “now,” is always up for interpretation.

AND. There is GUINNESS in Ghana. Hallelujah, amen.